


Disambiguation

by ltgmars



Category: Arashi (Band), Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: Coma, Drama, Gen, Police, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-31
Updated: 2010-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-26 00:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/276459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltgmars/pseuds/ltgmars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nino is acting suspicious. Sho needs to figure out why. (Cop drama AU.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disambiguation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diefleder_tey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diefleder_tey/gifts).



> Written during [](http://je-squickfic.livejournal.com/profile)[**je_squickfic**](http://je-squickfic.livejournal.com/) 2010, originally posted [here](http://community.livejournal.com/je_squickfic/16793.html). Extreme love to my beta, [](http://chelshock.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://chelshock.livejournal.com/)**chelshock**.

**1\. Sakurai Sho**

When he wakes up the next morning, it reeks of antiseptic.

With a low grunt, he rolls his head to the side and opens his eyes. He scans the room for his alarm clock but only finds an unfamiliar woman staring at him, hand stilled on a beige window curtain he doesn't recognize. She takes in a sharp breath, her eyes widening before she rushes forward.

"You're... you're awake! Wait here -- oh, of course you'll be waiting here -- let me... ahh..." He watches as she bows, visibly flustered, and shuffles away, his eyes tracking her movements out of the room until he spots a familiar figure poking his head into the doorway.

"Sho-chan."

Sho smiles, or at least tries to. His cheeks feel numb. "Nino."

Nino walks into the room quietly, and Sho notices his arm tugged into his abdomen with a sling. He drags a chair toward the bed, the legs scraping hesitantly against linoleum. He sits down and gives Sho a once-over before smirking at him. "You look like shit."

Sho chuckles, and his entire body tingles. "Do I? You don't look much better yourself."

Nino shrugs with his good shoulder. "I wasn't the one in a coma for three weeks."

Sho blinks. "Is that... you're kidding."

Nino frowns at him. "Why would I be lying about this? I got shot and fell on top of you, and you hit your head against the desk and have been out since."

Sho wants to believe that this is another one of Nino's pranks, an elaborate scheme born of too much alcohol and those human drama shows he pretends he's not interested in. But his body feels heavy, weighed down by more than just false realization, and his mind corroborates. He doesn't have to think hard about it, because it's the last thing he remembers. A scene in slow motion: Nino getting shot while they're on duty in their police box, and then darkness.

It would also explain the unexpected hospital visit.

At the sound of footsteps, Nino stands up, pushing the chair back against the wall. "The doctor will be in shortly," he says with playful authority, nodding. "I'll be back after they're done poking you." He makes his way out, nodding at the doctor and nurses, who bustle into the room with graphs and charts and clipboards, kicking up a thick cloud of noise and chaos and amazement in their wake.

  
"Sorry for all the trouble I've caused, Chief Maruyama. The doctor says my progress is good, so I'll be back in patrol form in just a few short days."

Maru waves his hand vigorously. "No, no, take as long as you want. We've got Matsumoto-kun covering for you, so you don't have anything to worry about."

"Matsumoto? Is he..."

"Your new partner," Maru says matter-of-factly. Sho looks up at Nino, who's standing behind the chief and pointing at his sling wryly.

Sho nods. "Understood."

Maru stands, satisfied. "Well, I should be heading back to the station."

Sho smiles. "Thanks for dropping by."

"And eating food that doesn't belong to you," Nino adds.

Sho glances over at the box of what used to be cookies that his sister left him and smirks. Maru reaches out and pops another crumbly bit into his mouth. "What? You weren't going to eat them. And your sister was so kind, making these delicious cookies for you... What a waste!"

"Well, I hope you liked them, Chief."

Maru grins. "I did. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Ah, Chief, I'll go with you," Nino says, falling in behind Maru. "See you later, Sho-chan."

"Bye!"

Maru turns and waves with both hands. "Bye bye!"

As soon as the door closes, Sho falls back against the bed, exhausted.

  
Sho memorizes Matsumoto Jun's profile as he and Nino make their way to the station, taking note of the special awards and commendations he's earned, the community service projects he's headed, the particularly police officer-esque line of his jaw.

Nino looks over his shoulder and eyes the picture suspiciously. "Look at this guy. Look at his eyebrows. He should start a community service project to take care of _those_."

Sho laughs and traces his hand over the blurry lines. "He looks all right to me. Though I can't really tell with the way he's streaked across the page..." He frowns. "Wasn't it your turn to pick up a replacement print cartridge?"

"Hm, was it?" Nino puts his hands in his pockets, and he squints dramatically at a faraway tree, examining a bird that Sho is sure isn't actually there.

"Fine, fine, I'll get it myself."

Suddenly Nino's bird is gone, and he's smiling pleasantly at Sho. "Oh, you're too kind."

  
They part ways at the stairwell. "Now don't get too lonely without me, okay? I've got that lame desk job on the first floor, but whenever you need me, just send me an e-mail, and we'll meet on the roof."

Sho grimaces. "Whenever I need you? Don't make me out to be some kind of dependent. You're such a nuisance, you know, always hanging around me."

"It's not my fault you're not getting laid, Sho-chan," Nino says, saluting. Sho flips him off and heads upstairs.

  
Jun is everything his profile says he is, and it's easy to see why he's been assigned to be Nino replacement. He lacks Nino's observational skills and quick reflexes and flawless memory, but he makes for it with diligence and meticulous notes and a work ethic most people leave behind after high school. Or so Sho conjectures: papers are piled up in uneven stacks all over his desk, and notepads filled with scribbles outline an empty space barely big enough for him to write on. And as soon as Sho puts his bag down on his desk, Jun stands up and steps swiftly forward, giving him a proper self-introduction, from name to birthdate to the police academy he graduated from, all the way down to his bloodtype. (Sho knows it all already, but he listens anyway.)

And then with both hands, Jun passes him a thick folder containing the report of what happened on the day Nino got shot, and what's happened since. Sho takes it graciously and files it away in his desk; he doesn't need to read it. Nino's already filled him in, and he trusts his partner's first-hand account more than he does the investigations that inevitably trickled down the bureaucratic ladder.

More importantly, he doesn't need an official reminder of how he was incapacitated for a month. He still doesn't quite move as well as he used to, and realizing that when he literally drags himself out of bed every morning is painful enough.

  
"You're home late," Sho says, not looking away from the news report on his laptop. A murderer on the loose in the next town over! It's the makings of a bad detective drama.

Nino grunts in response and stalks away to his bedroom before coming back out to read over Sho's shoulder. "You like reading depressing news after a long day at work?"

Sho shrugs. "It's important to know about what's going on outside of our jurisdiction. You of all people should know that. The guy who shot you was from the next town over, right?"

"He was also certifiably insane," Nino scoffs. "No one shoots up a police box and expects to get away with it. Our guy was a special case."

"Well, either way, I'm glad you're okay, Nino."

Nino makes an annoyed noise and heads toward the kitchen.

"I put karaage on the table for you," Sho says, looking up at him.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Eat it this time, huh? You haven't been eating lately."

"Haven't had much of an appetite." Nino rounds the table and flips boredly through the pieces of paper decorating the refrigerator door.

Sho sits back in his chair and cross his arms over his chest. He reclines and bounces back, reclines again, bounces back again. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of red, like a hot iron. _Murderer!_ He whips his head back toward his computer, but as soon as his eyes settle, all he sees is the article. Huh. He leans forward and sifts through it one more time, the mouse scroll wheel dully click-clicking with every new line.

"You all right there, Sho-chan?"

Sho jumps in his seat. Nino's back behind him again, wearing his typical smirk.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I guess this article is creeping me out."

Nino grins. "Matsumoto Jun really takes that much out of you, huh?"

  
Sho wakes up the next morning to find the karaage still sitting out on the table. "What the hell, Nino? Eat something," he mutters to himself. He packs up the containers and turns to put them in the refrigerator when he sees another flash of red. Sho starts and blinks up at Nino, who's standing in the living room, watching Sho carefully.

"Fuck, Nino! When did you get here?" His heart's pounding a hole through his chest, and he's not sure why.

"I live here." Nino cocks his head toward his bedroom. "In that room, over there. I think I might be on the lease, too, if you want to go check."

Sho huffs indignantly. "Never mind. Just go get ready for work."

Nino smiles brightly. "Actually, I have something to take care of, so I'm going to head out early. But I'll see you at home, okay?"

Sho watches as Nino waves and drifts toward the door. Sho's insides are gurgling unpleasantly, until finally Nino's closed the door behind him and Sho's heart decides to save the incessant pounding for another day.

  
The streets are a lot grimier than he remembers them. Part of the reason he wanted to be a police officer was how clean and friendly Japan had always been. But as he walks with Jun to the corner police box, he can't help but notice all of the dirt that never used to register in his mind -- the cigarette butts, the stray plastic bags, the general feeling of muck at every turn. He wants to blame it on Jun, who seems to outshine even his physical surroundings with his candor and earnest hard work, but with every click of his perfectly-polished shoes, Sho can't help but think that Jun is a good guy. Boring, but good.

They reach the box and dismiss the night patrol with their usual greetings. Sho lags in front of the desk, mesmerized by the sight, taking it all in, remembering everything as if it happened a week ago (and in Sho's mind, that's about right). This is where some lunatic shot Nino. This spot here is where the shooter was standing, this is where Nino fell, this is where Sho lost consciousness and didn't find it again for three weeks, this is... this is where...

Sho blinks. There's still blood on the floor. A lot of it, like Nino had just been shot. It shines a sinister crimson, and light from the rising sun dances along its shimmering surface. Sho blinks again, and it's gone.

Jun clears his throat from behind the desk, and Sho's head snaps up, eyes wide. "Are you all right, Sakurai-kun?"

Sho nods slowly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm just... remembering."

Jun nods gravely and looks out the window, his head propped up in his hand. Sho looks back down at the floor -- clean, of course -- and steps forward to join his new partner behind the desk.

  
"You keep checking your phone," Jun says blandly.

"Yeah, sorry. E-mails." He holds up his phone meaningfully to show Jun his inbox: Nino, Nino, Nino, Nino, Nino.

Jun glances at the screen and then at Sho. Sho grins sheepishly. Jun smirks. "You're so popular."

Sho chuckles and opens the latest message from Nino. _Sho-chan, when are you getting back?_

Sho thinks. Patrol days usually have more paperwork to file, so... _A little after dinner, maybe? Feel free to eat without me._

A moment later, he hears his phone beep. He can feel Jun's gaze as he opens Nino's response. _Thanks for your permission._ Sho laughs and closes his phone.

Long after he slips his phone back into his pocket, he can still feel Jun's eyes on him, so he turns to smile at him. Jun looks at him for a long moment, eyebrows furrowed, and then turns to look out the window again.

  
"Again?"

Nino slips into his room and comes back out, wiping his hands on his pants. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Sho frowns, putting the newspaper back down on the kitchen table. "You're coming home late again."

Nino shrugs. "You'd be amazed at how much paperwork police stations produce."

Sho narrows his eyes. No one had been on the first floor of the station when Sho left that night. "So what did you end up eating for dinner?"

"I picked up some onigiri at the conbini."

Sho studies Nino carefully. Nino's lazy slouch, his tired eyes, his untucked uniform. He's always been a thin guy, but he looks even more malnourished now than he ever has. Sho wonders idly what he's doing at night instead of eating, but he pushes the thought from his head. It's _Nino_ , after all. He eats like a bird anyway. A very, very small bird. "You don't look so good."

Nino clicks his tongue, and it sounds like a faraway gunshot. Sho tenses and barely keeps from ducking. "Thanks for overworrying, but I'm fine." Nino's voice sounds strained.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Are you sure _you're_ okay?"

"What are you talking about, Nino?"

Nino leans against the back of the couch, rolling his foot on the ground. "You've been really on edge lately. Your pulse is going crazy right now." Nino points to his neck, and Sho slaps his hand up against the vein in his own. It ticks against his palm like a time bomb.

"That's... that's not your problem."

Nino smirks and turns his head to the side. Sho watches his eyes scan across the floorboard. "You should learn to relax a little." He looks back up at Sho, his eyes dark and unreadable. Sho's vein almost explodes against his hand. "Don't worry, no one's going to come in here and shoot the place up."

Sho feels like he can't breathe.

  
Nino's recent behavior isn't abnormal, per se, but he's definitely not himself. He's someone else, maybe -- someone quiet and distracted, who _never_ touches his food, even when it's his favorite hamburger dish -- or anything in the apartment, really, like he's afraid to put his hands on anything. He leaves early in the morning and comes home late at night and smiles like it's nothing new. Sho tries to talk to him, but Nino always deflects the conversation to other things -- office gossip, video games, Sho's own business. Nino even brings up Jun sometimes, and what sound like sadness and jealousy creep into his voice. It would warm Sho's heart if his heart weren't already caught between his lungs whenever he and Nino are in the same room. And the sentiment is lost anyway, because Sho really doesn't pay much attention to Jun, so he has nothing to say about him. As it turns out, he spends most of his time at work worrying about Nino...

"Whoa, watch it!" Jun tugs Sho away from the street as a car passes by. Sho barely notices.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Are you all right, Sakurai-kun? You're like thi..." and what about the way Nino is always smiling nowadays? It used to be so cheerful and friendly, but it's gotten to be so sinister lately. It's so much easier to talk to him when they're not in a room together and it feels like Nino's plotting something awful. Or just getting back from doing something awful. Sho doesn't know how to bring it up, because he _knows_ Nino's going to brush it off, but Nino's also smart enough not to leave things lying around where Sho will be able to find them. He's at a loss for what to do.

Sho's phone beeps. He stops walking. It's Nino. _Hey, can you get bread on your way home from work tonight?_

"You don't even eat anymore," he mutters at the screen. His hands twitch over the keypad before he responds, _No problem._

He puts his phone in his pocket, looking up to see Jun standing a few paces ahead, watching him, frowning.

  
For once, Nino is sitting on the couch when Sho gets home. Relief drips over him for a brief moment before he realizes that Nino's been sitting in the dark. He slips his shoes off and moves swiftly toward the light switch. He's almost more afraid to turn it on.

Click. "Ah, that's bright!" Nino makes a whining noise, but it falls dead to the floor like it was smacked by a flyswatter.

Sho keeps his eyes on Nino, flicking down to his hands and back up again, and tosses his keys on the kitchen table. They scrape heavily across the wood. "How was your day today?"

Nino shrugs. Sho's hand slips to his holster.

"Did you eat already?"

Nino nods. Sho spares a quick glance toward the trash can -- no sign of food waste, as he suspected -- and then trains his eyes on Nino again. Nino looks unarmed, but he's quick on his feet.

Sho forces a smile. "So what were you up to, sitting in the dark?" He wipes his hands on his pants hastily and wonders when his palms got so sweaty.

"Feeling peaceful until you got here," Nino jokes. Sho doesn't laugh. Nino takes a deep, purposeful breath and lets it out slowly. "Sho-chan." Sho doesn't respond. "Sho-chan, let's go to work together tomorrow, huh? Maybe it'll calm you down."

It's like sliding into homeplate. The starch seeps out of Sho's bones. His hand drops to his side. Nino's not going to disappear early in the morning anymore? This is a good sign. "Sure. It'll be like that one time we used to be roommates."

Nino laughs. "Uh-huh. Hey, before you head to the bath, can you turn on the TV for me?"

"Do it yourself!"

Nino giggles into his hand. "But you're so much closer to the remote! And it's on your way to the bath anyway!"

Sho decides not to argue with Nino's stupid logic and turns on the television, switching it to NHK Educational TV before throwing the remote at Nino. It hits Nino's shoulder with a low thud, and Nino shoots him a hurt look. Sho grins. "And don't forget to turn the TV off this time."

  
Sho gives himself a pep talk when he wakes up the next morning. Nino's still Nino, he decides, as if he has that kind of authority over the truth. Nino's probably just depressed that he's still at a desk job instead of back on patrol. Sho spits into the sink and grits his teeth, looking up into the mirror and nearly choking on toothpaste.

"Ngahh!" He spits. "Holy shit, Nino, you need to stop doing that!"

Nino snickers, and his eyes in the mirror crinkle mischievously. "You're the one being slow, Sho-chan. Now hurry up and let's go."

Sho rinses and wipes his mouth. He grins into his reflection and sees Nino in the mirror, grinning from the living room.

"Okay, let's go." Sho grabs his keys and blinks at the television. Thursday morning French lessons. He frowns at Nino, who just gives him another bathroom mirror grin. "And I thought you were stingy about electric bills," he says, grabbing the remote from the couch and pressing the power button.

"Come talk to me when you've stopped using five times as much gas as you need to trying to cook an omelette."

Sho laughs and moves to smack Nino on their way out the door. Nino dodges with ease.

  
Jun notices Sho's good mood right away. Apparently the fact that Sho even pays attention to Jun is sign enough of change for the better. Jun says as much, smiling.

"Nino seems to be getting better," Sho says as an explanation, leaning back in his chair and drumming his fingers against the desk. He smiles at the sight of a little boy zipping past the police box, his black randoseru slapping against his back with each short stride.

"Nino? As in Ninomiya Kazunari? Your old partner?"

Sho turns back to Jun and nods. "Yeah, we live together." Jun looks at him blankly. "He's a lot more interesting than you are," Sho says teasingly.

Jun doesn't say anything else; he just sets his jaw and turns to look out the window.

  
As soon as Sho returns from the bathroom, Maru calls him over. "Sakurai-kun? A word?"

Sho nods and stands up, looking down at Jun, who's scribbling notes like he's writing with combustible ink. Sho frowns slightly and pushes his chair in. He walks toward Maru's desk and stops, bowing slightly. "Chief?"

Maru looks at him seriously. "Sakurai-kun, how have you been feeling lately? Since the incident?"

Sho shrugs. "Fine, I guess." He considers. "It's weird not having Nino as my partner," he adds loudly. Jun's chair squeaks self-consciously.

Maru gives him a small smile. "It's weird for us, too. We all miss having him around."

Sho nods curtly and decides not to tell Nino. He's arrogant enough without thinking that people at work miss him.

"So..."

"Matsumoto-kun has been concerned about you," Maru says simply. Jun's chair positively yelps.

Sho smiles calmly. "I'm fine, Chief. It just takes some getting used to, that's all."

Maru shakes his head, looking concerned. "I don't think you're going to be able to get used to it on your own. I'm setting you up with a friend of mine."

"Like, on a date?"

Maru laughs good-naturedly. "Something like that. Wait just a second, okay?" He pulls out his cell phone and clicks through some numbers before dialing. "Ah, Kimi-kun? Good news! I have a new patient for you... Mmmhmm, mmmhmm... yeah, from my branch." He looks up at Sho. "Yep, yeah. Sakurai Sho." He pauses, and nods, and laughs, and looks like he has a breakthrough. "Actually, can he bring a friend? Uh-huh..." He grins. "Matsumoto Jun."

He hangs up and smiles at Sho, and then at Jun, who isn't even pretending anymore not to be eavesdropping. "That's an order."

  
The grime follows him on his walk home. He's stopped noticing it, really -- maybe Jun shoos it away whenever he's around. But Sho's alone now and feeling bitter about getting set up on a date with a psychiatrist, and the grime is all he sees. The ground looks like it's covered in muck and bad karma, as if all the people who go home frustrated ball up their energy and throw it down the street to his apartment. Sho's shoes scrape lazily against the pavement, and with each step he takes, the sky gets darker and darker. A streetlight buzzes in the distance, and he begins to hear low whispers that tingle through him, like dozens of insects crawling up his legs. He stops walking for a moment and there's a lull suspended in the air around him, but it descends, spreads like flour dust, crawls back up his legs. The whispers come back, louder, more forceful. He shakes his legs and stomps and yells to try to silence the noise, but it's relentless. He starts to walk faster, and the noise goes with him, follows him down the street. He breaks into a run, and shadows, too many shadows, bounce around him, looming closer, threatening to swallow him whole. He runs and runs, and spins and spins and spins his head constantly, looking around -- back behind him, over his shoulder, into the distance -- trying to find the source. He can't go for much longer, where is his apartment building, he isn't lost is he, dear god shut up shut up just shut up already. He keeps on running, wheezing, turning his head to the left, to the right, to the left agai--

"Sho-chan!"

Sho screams, his voice echoing down the street. He clutches his chest and turns to face Nino and...

He's gone.

And so is the noise.

Sho wakes up suddenly, covered in sweat. He's left the television on, and a comedian is finishing a gag that Sho doesn't care about. Sho stares at the screen, and he can feel his heart beat in time with the canned laughter.

He slumps back into the couch and waits for the adrenaline rush to fizzle away. After a moment, he wipes his forehead with his sleeve and looks at the clock. It's a little past one in the morning. Nino's still not back yet.

  
Doctor Yokoyama is possibly the worst psychiatrist Sho's ever met. He hasn't met many, so maybe he doesn't have much to compare him with, but he has a gut feeling about it.

"Sakurai-san, Matsumoto-san, thanks for coming to see me," Yoko says, exaggeratedly pleasant.

Sho looks at Jun and then back at Yoko, who's still smiling at him. "Nice to meet you, Doctor," Sho says woodenly.

"Hey, hey, what's with that attitude? I'm going to help you with your problems, you know!"

Sho looks at him seriously. "I assure you that I don't have any problems. I'm only doing this for Chief Maruyama."

Yoko raises his eyebrows at Sho. He looks at the paper on his desk and writes something. The tip of his pen wiggles in little circles, and Sho can't stop watching it. Yoko glances at Jun, who nods, and then turns back to Sho. "Sakurai-san, I know talking about this is going to be hard for you, but you're going to have to work with me. I'm going to do my best to help you. Now let's figure out where to start."

Sho knows that doesn't need any help, but when he looks at Yoko's face, he thinks he has him figured out. Behind the big grin and easy sarcasm, he does his best. He cares about people. He's like Jun, Sho decides, eyeing his partner. He's not a bad guy.

"Yeah, okay," Sho says, conceding. If they're going to be here every week, he might as well see what comes out of it. "What do you need from me?"

Yoko grins triumphantly. "Write in a journal," he prescribes.

"A... journal."

"You heard me. Just write about your day -- what you did, how you felt, what you thought about... Write in it every day, and then bring it back to me every week. We'll talk about what you wrote each week and see where we stand. Oh, and Matsumoto-san." Jun squirms to attention. "You write one, too."

  
"Sakurai-kun," Jun says brightly as they're walking back to the station, "maybe we can write to each other. Like an exchange diary."

"Oh," Sho says dryly, "so you _can_ be funny."

  
Sho sits down at the kitchen table that night, newly bought journal in hand. He turns the cover, and the binding cracks audibly. It doesn't quite have that "new journal" smell -- not that he knows what that smell is, exactly -- but it _does_ smell like the 100-yen shop he bought it at. Smoothing the cover down, he stares at the first page, white and blank and virtually vibrating with anticipation. After a minute, he decides that the first page doesn't get anything fun. He writes, _Sakurai Sho_.

He turns to the next page and draws a blank and resists the urge to write _I have nothing to say,_ a character per page. He holds the tip of the pen a centimeter above the paper and pantomimes writing his name over and over again, quickly, and then slowly, watching the opposite end wiggle with each stroke.

Eventually frustrated by the lack of inspiration the wiggling pen seems to be giving him, he decides to make a list of things to write. He doesn't want to write a list of things to write in the journal itself, so he makes a mental list that starts and ends with Jun.

"That's the majority of my day, after all," he says to the empty journal. He thinks. "Oh, maybe I'll start with his eyebrows." He chuckles to himself. Nino would be proud, since he seems to like them so much.

"Ink!"

Sho looks up in alarm. "Nino?" He slinks lower into the chair and peers across the living room. His laptop is humming on the desk, next to their tried and true printer. It's running low on ink and streaking through the little spots around Jun's mouth. Non-threatening, just a little dejected.

Sho smiles despite himself. "Damn, Nino, you're even invading my subconscious." He shimmies back up into an upright position and then stands. "I'll write about you, too, don't worry," he says playfully, grabbing his keys and wallet. "After I buy some ink."

  
Sho sees an unexpected sight on the way back from the computer store: Nino in the conbini, having spent money on onigiri. Sho smiles and slips behind a vending machine to watch. Nino steps out of the conbini behind a larger man carrying a rustling bag full of cakes, and he slips the onigiri carefully into his pocket with a satisfied smile on his face. Nino pauses momentarily to look at the moon, and Sho takes the opportunity to ready his surprise attack. But instead of turning toward their apartment, Nino begins walking in the opposite direction.

Sho takes one quiet step in Nino's direction and freezes. The man with the cakes is standing in front of the conbini, his lips pursed together and his eyes on Sho. Sho feels alone and exposed then, like he's done something wrong and no one will tell him how to fix it. Clouds roll over the moon like lumpy potatoes, and Sho is cast again in an inescapable shadow. Not "again", he corrects, dismissing his dream in a wispy attempt to assuage his own discomfort. He begins to call out to Nino, but as soon as he raises his head, Nino's gone, evaporated like the moonlight.

The man with the cakes spares Sho one last quiet glance before walking away.

  
Nino comes home later and later each night. Sho doesn't know what to make of it, and as soon as Sho opens his mouth to ask whenever Nino comes into the apartment, Nino slips into his room. When he comes back out, he's ready to talk about anything but himself, and it's clear in the way he stands and speaks that he isn't interested in having Sho know anything about his life anymore.

Sho almost expects to be more upset about the situation, but the journal ends up being his saving grace. It gives him direction in those moments he can't seem to make sense of his surroundings, simply by letting him write down and digest his thoughts, and it's become a space in which he can unleash the tigers of his frustration in the jungle of his heart.

Sho taps the end of the pen against his chin contemplatively, hovers, and then crosses out the last clause. It's become a space in which he can vent his frustrations. Period. Doctor Yokoyama doesn't need to know that he likes tigers.

The bright side, Sho comes to discover, is that he no longer feels threatened by Nino.

Sho pauses. Threatened? He looks up, surprised, and spots Nino leaning against the back of the couch, watching him intently. Sho's heartrate climbs, and the more Nino smiles his quiet, casual smile, the worse it gets.

Sho's clammy palm crinkles the journal page. Sho frowns, dissatisfied, and drags his hand across the paper to try to smooth it out. The wrinkled patches pop back up at him continuously, and after several failed attemps at manual ironing, he decides just to make a revision. He crosses out the final statement and writes, _Unfortunately, I still feel threatened by Nino._

  
Sho treads lightly in the mornings. It starts originally because he assumes it's easier to hear Nino creeping up on him that way (though that doesn't prove to be the case at all, because Nino is agile and makes _no noise_ when he walks), but it's seeped into being part of his morning routine.

The sun is already up and so is Nino, gone on his mysterious morning quest before Sho even has a chance to crack his eyes open. When he does, he sniffs, stretches, retrieves his t-shirt from where he's tossed it off at night, and makes his way to the bathroom. There's something in the air that Sho can't place -- it's old, or putrefied, he's not really sure, but he's just happy that Nino is eating again. He steps by Nino's bedroom door and stops. It's coming from Nino's room. Maybe that's where he eats every night.

Sho pokes his head in. He feels like he shouldn't be doing this, and he looks around the room before slipping in completely. But Nino has never been shy about coming into Sho's room when he's just waking up -- thankfully he hasn't taken to jumping on top of him, though Sho wouldn't put it past him on his more hyper mornings -- so why shouldn't Sho be in Nino's room? Especially if he has garbage he isn't throwing out.

Sho takes another step into the room, and he's struck by something: Nino's bed is made. Does Nino ever make his bed? Has Nino even slept here recently, or does he sleep somewhere else? Maybe he has a girlfriend. Maybe he _isn't_ the town murderer (though Sho flips back through his memory and realizes he hasn't yet been caught; when he swallows, his throat is dry). Sho nods to himself, even though his body still feels heavy. The girlfriend thing makes more sense. _Much_ more sense. But then what's that smell? And why is he so conscious of the way his feet stomp across the floor? Light steps, Sakurai, what happened to the light steps?

His breathing is heavy. He can't hear anything but his own pulse in his head. Maybe he shouldn't do this. Maybe he should just turn around and leave it all alone. Maybe this is Nino's business, and he hasn't told Sho for a reason.

But Sho feels exposed. He's surrounded by a smell he doesn't know, in a room he hasn't been in for weeks. Just get to the bed, get to the bottom of things. Once and for all, step by step. One step forward... another... another... Damn, why do his feet make so much noise? Isn't carpet supposed to mask the sound? So close... one more step, so close...

"Sho-chan, what are you doing?"

Sho looks up and gasps, and he nearly falls back on his butt. "Nino!"

Nino is standing in front of his mirror, looking sideways at Sho. He chuckles for a second and returns to fixing his tie.

Sho is speechless, and his heart is still racing. Did he _really_ not see him in there? "You... there's... something smells funny..." he breathes.

Nino blinks and then tilts his head to the side. "Something... _oh_. There's a bag of fruit in the corner. I never got around to eating them."

Sho slowly makes his way to the corner of the room, and... ah, there it is. A bag of fruit. Fruit flies spiral around inside. Sho squints down into the bag. "Nino, these look like they've been here for months."

"Hm?" Nino hums distractedly. He runs a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs back and forth. "I got them a few days ago."

Sho peers down again at the apple and banana corpses, blackened, rotten all the way through. "Well, toss them in the kitchen trash can, okay? Trash day's coming up."

Nino nods and turns to Sho. The smile on his face is his scariest smile yet. "Go get ready for work, then. You have an appointment today, right? I'll see you when you get home."

  
Sho is exhausted. He doesn't have the energy to deal with this today. Jun picks up on his bad mood immediately and makes light conversation about the trees and the leaves and summer's end. Sho stops listening long before they get to the doctor's office.

"Sakurai-san, Matsumoto-san." Yoko bows.

Jun mumbles back a greeting, but Sho just hands him his journal. "Let's get this over with." He stalks over to one of the chairs and drops into it carelessly.

Yoko puts a surly expression on his face and opens the journal. With his eyes on the pages, he sits down in his chair, and Jun goes to sit down hesitantly next to Sho. "Sakurai-san, can you tell me about what you wrote?"

"You can read it yourself," Sho spits.

Yoko looks at him and waits. Next to Sho, Jun shuffles his feet uncomfortably.

Sho frowns, and then he talks. Yoko watches him curiously for a moment before he takes out a notepad and begins writing things down. Sho has to stop himself from watching the wiggling pen. He gets about two days into what he's written -- he's in the middle of recounting another one of Nino's late entrances -- before he notices that Yoko's stopped taking notes. He sighs audibly. "What is it, Doctor?"

Yoko looks at him carefully. He leans forward, propping his elbows up on his desk. "You talk about Ninomiya-san a lot."

Sho shrugs. "Well, he _is_ my roommate."

"Present tense?"

Sho nearly rolls his eyes. "Of course, present tense. Why wouldn't it be?"

Yoko doesn't say anything for a long moment, but next to him, Jun mumbles something.

"What?" He can't have heard that right.

"Ninomiya-kun's _dead_."

Sho's out the door before they can say any more. They're nuts, all of them. How could Nino be _dead_? He's still alive and kicking, thank you, still a pain-in-the-ass roommate, like always. He talked to him _just_ this morning about old fruit. There's no way he's _dead_.

Sho climbs the stairs two at a time up to their department and zips straight to his desk. He drags his desk drawer open, and it grumbles to a staccato halt. That file, that damn file, where is it? There.

"I'm taking the day off," he shouts. He looks over at Maru, who's standing behind his desk, stunned, before heading silently out and back down the stairs. He stops on the first floor and turns toward Nino's department, stepping in abruptly. He scans the room before noticing the woman putting a cup of tea on Nino's desk. "Sakurai-san...?" Sho turns and walks out of the department.

He tears through the file on the way home. Newspaper articles, official reports, funeral announcements. Ninomiya Kazunari shot twice, second bullet to the head. Partner Sakurai Sho knocked unconscious right away. Death. Coma. Terrible incident.

The Ninomiya family offers its sincerest thanks.

Sho swings his apartment door open in a frenzy and sees Nino standing at the kitchen table. Relief. "Nino." The blood rushes back into his system, and he smiles and steps forward and notices the bloody knife in Nino's hand.

"Sho-chan, you're home early." Nino's smile makes his skin crawl.

Sho's hand goes straight to his holster, but he realizes he didn't put it on before their appointment with the doctor. Sho grabs an umbrella from the genkan and proceeds cautiously into the apartment.

"Hey, let me put this away, and we can go out for lunch or something." Nino lifts the knife up, and the steel and the blood gleam in the kitchen light.

"Nino..."

Nino turns and heads toward his room. Sho follows him, adjusting and readjusting his grip on the umbrella. His hands are dripping with sweat. His mouth is dry, and his body feels numb. But he presses forward and steps into the room and literally can't breathe.

The mattress has fallen off the frame to reveal a bed of blood, blood everywhere. Knives dripping, knives encrusted. A shotgun, a handgun, more knives. And right on top is Nino's body. There's a gaping hole in his stomach, and another one in his head. The flesh is filthy, rotten, cut up and bled dry.

The umbrella drops silently from Sho's hand. He's overwhelmed by the sight, by the asphyxiating smell of copper and death. His body is halfway between throwing up and passing out, but before he can do either, he takes a step back, out. He can't think. He can't look away. He gropes blindly for the doorknob, and he misses several times before he grabs it and and tugs it toward him. The door slams shut.

  
And Sho wakes up.

Sho lies in bed for a long while, staring at the ceiling, breathing in and out.

"Sho-chan," he hears Nino call from the living room, "don't be late for your appointment!" Keys rattle, and the apartment door opens and closes.

Sho stays in bed for another minute before he sits up. He takes one last deep breath and slips out of bed, gathering his things for work.

  
"Good morning," he says breezily to Jun when he gets to his desk. He sits down in his chair and opens his drawer and dammit. The file's gone.

He looks up at Jun, confused. "Where's the file?"

Jun knows which one. "You took it home with you yesterday."

Sho can't breathe all over again.

"Sakurai-kun..."

"Is Nino..." He can't finish the sentence.

Jun sits silently for a moment. "Let me see your phone."

Sho reaches in his pocket and hands it over numbly. He watches Jun peck through the menus before he lands on the inbox. Jun hands the phone back.

"All from Ninomiya-kun, right?"

Sho looks at the screen. Nino, Nino, Nino, Nino, Nino. The latest one had been from that morning -- a comment about seeing a squirrel on the way to the office. Sho looks up at Jun and nods.

Jun retrieves his own phone and taps some buttons before he grabs Sho's hand and takes a picture of Sho's phone with his own. He flips his phone around, and Sho looks at the screen. There are no messages from Nino.

"I don't..."

Jun gives him a meaningful look. "They're not there."

Sho stares at him blankly.

Jun digs through his bag and hands him his journal. "And write your entries properly. Don't just give Doctor Yokoyama blank pages."

  
Sho sits at the kitchen table, tapping at the blank page with the end of his pen. He doesn't know what to say. He sighs and looks up and sees Nino sitting across from him. He's stopped being surprised by it.

He looks back down at the journal. It's still blank, but at least it doesn't have blood on it. He waits for a minute before writing, _Are you real?_ He slides it across the table, and Nino looks down and laughs, taking the pen and writing a response before sliding the journal back to Sho.

_What do you think?_

Sho doesn't know how to answer.

  
When Sho arrives at the station the next day, he finds a note on his desk. _Sakurai-san, please come see me as soon as possible._ He flashes the note at Maru, who nods, before heading down the stairs and toward Yoko's office.

Yoko makes it quick and relatively painless, which Sho is grateful for. But despite the signs, despite the little details he's finally started to pick up on, he's still a little surprised by it when Yoko commits it to words.

"You have schizophrenia."

  
 **2\. Matsumoto Jun**

Yoko gives him a brief rundown of the things to look out for. "Hallucinations and lack of interest are the two big things we've seen from him."

Jun nods. "Whenever I start talking, he looks dazed and uninterested."

Yoko smirks. "We'll assume you're not uninteresting and go with schizophrenia."

Jun doesn't know how appropriate it is to be joking about something like this, but he forces a smile.

Yoko heaves himself out of his chair and walks across the room. He picks out a large book from his bookshelf and opens it in his hand, leafing through the pages. "He's probably paranoid, too. Has he said anything to you?"

"About what?"

"Anything, really. Conspiracy theories, plots to kill him. They usually end up on the dark side of macabre."

Jun shakes his head. "He doesn't really talk to me. He zones out and looks at his phone a lot."

Yoko nods and slaps the book closed, returning it to the shelf. He crosses his arms and walks back to his desk. "Schizophrenia often takes months or even years to diagnose. His case is an extreme one, and the symptoms are obvious, but it still takes some time to figure out. Your journal really helped to give us perspective."

Jun feels warm. He likes being praised. "So what exactly caused this?"

Yoko thinks for a minute. "He might have a genetic predisposition to it. It's not uncommon for these kinds of psychological diseases to run in the family. Though I'm certain the shock of seeing his partner shot right in front of him accelerated whatever deterioration may have been occurring."

"That and the massive blow to the head he got," Jun adds, nodding seriously.

Yoko laughs at him. "What are you, a detective? Ah, well, police officer, maybe it's the same thing."

Jun smiles and shakes his head. "We do guard patrol and occasionally fill in for the traffic safety division. It's not the same thing at all."

Yoko salutes. "Well, Officer, I've got another patient coming." He lowers his hand and smiles. "Take care of him."

"I'm not marrying him."

Yoko grins. "Take care of him all the same."

  
Jun continues to go to with Sho to their counseling sessions. Sho is put on a high dosage of anti-psychotic medicine, and soon enough, Jun is happy to report (in writing and out loud) that the symptoms of schizophrenia seem to be waning.

The biggest change in Sho's behavior is the way he acts around Jun. Jun had spent weeks getting to know Sho as a quiet, uncaring individual who didn't pay attention at all to what he said. But with the treatment in full effect, and with Sho finally coming to terms with what happened, it's like meeting a whole new person. Jun is overjoyed.

"Come over and cook for me sometime," Sho says between reports.

Jun keeps writing. It doesn't make sense to stop when he has a good rhythm going. "You don't cook?"

"Not well, anyway." Sho laughs sheepishly.

Jun smiles and puts down his pen. He's at a good stopping point. "Sure. What do you like?"

"Anything, really. Japanese food. I'm Japanese, after all."

Jun chuckles. This Sho is so playful. "I can do that. I'm Japanese, too, you know."

Sho laughs. "Well, that works out, then. I'm counting on you."

Jun grins. "Leave it to me." He chuckles one more time and turns back to his paperwork.

  
Sho starts to confide in Jun. It feels good. Sometimes he mentions Nino, and Jun's not sure how to react. It seems that he and Nino had such a good relationship, and while Sho's finally started speaking in the past tense whenever he refers to him, there's still a kind of far-off warmth that never appears at any other time. Jun isn't wholly convinced that Sho's completely let him go.

"Do you still see him?" Jun asks cautiously one day.

"Mm." Sho looks nostalgic. "He never used to come home this late. I wonder if he has unfinished business or something."

Jun sighs. "He's not a ghost. He's a projection of your memories, part of your subconscious."

Sho shrugs. "He still seems unhappy, though. I want to do something for him."

"Take your medicine. That's all you can do for him. It's not fair to him that you thought he was a serial killer, after all."

Sho looks thoughtful.

"Sakurai-kun, he's dead." Jun feels like an asshole, being blunt like this. But Sho needs to hear it. He needs to stay grounded and to be around people who don't let him give in to his disease.

"I know," Sho says quietly. He looks distracted.

Jun makes a mental note to write about this in his journal.

  
"I'm going to get revenge."

Jun looks up from a particularly disgusting hangnail he's been picking at and turns to Sho. "What?"

Sho looks determined, as serious as he's been about anything in his life. "I'm going to get revenge. On Nino's killer."

Jun frowns. Nino's killer is in a mental institution on the other side of Tokyo. "Have you been taking your medicine?"

"It doesn't matter. I need to get revenge."

Jun looks at Sho carefully. His eyes are focused, and he makes sense when he talks, not that the subject matter is anything logical or understandable. He _is_ taking his medicine, at least. "Forget about the killer, Sakurai-kun. He's not worth your time. Ninomiya-kun would have just let it go, right?"

Sho just frowns at him. Jun feels the frustration thrumming inside him, and he turns away, looking out at the cars on the street.

  
Jun is in the absolute least enviable position. He's the closest person to Sho, the person Sho talks to about his favorite television shows and world news and his deepest feelings. He's also the person who sees most vividly the direction in which Sho's mind is headed, and the person who feels the need to do something but can't.

Sho begins to talk increasingly about revenge, about the bastard who shot Nino, about how Nino was just doing his job.

"Sakurai-kun, there are better things to live for than revenge." Jun feels more and more desperate each time the topic comes up. And it's coming up more and more frequently.

Sho just sits and stares at the surface of the desk.

"Sakurai-kun?"

Sho doesn't respond.

  
"He's getting delusional again," Jun says to Maru one afternoon. "I'm worried about him."

Maru nods seriously for a moment and then smiles. It's bright and cheerful and Jun is almost convinced it'll solve everything. "Move in with him."

  
The move is a simple matter. Jun decides to leave most of his things at his parents' house, and since he's set to take Nino's old room, he doesn't have any furniture to bring along either. Just a few boxes, labelled with his own code words for things like clothes and toiletries and books and hats. He shoves them all into his sister's car, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief when he's done. He looks over to the house and sees her talking with Sho. The tell-tale signs of infatuation are quick to appear: excessive nodding and touching, an exaggerated smile, a high laugh coming from the back of her throat (or maybe somewhere behind her ear, he's not sure; it's unnatural, at any rate). Sho seems to be oblivious to it, and Jun wants to snicker at his sister's expense.

"Sakurai-kun! Let's get going!"

"Oh, okay!" Sho turns back to Jun's sister and bids her farewell. As soon as he turns toward the car, Jun's sister's posture transforms. She slouches and shoots Jun a toxic look, and Jun just grins at her.

"See you later, Nee-san!"

  
The apartment is a standard two-bedroom apartment. It's actually quite spacious for Tokyo, and Jun wonders not for the first time whether Sho comes from money. He probably does.

"Pardon the intrusion," Jun says, walking into the apartment.

"Try that again." Jun looks up, and Sho smiles at him.

Oh. Jun grins. "I'm home." Sho look satisfied.

"Your room's this one right here, next to the bathroom. I've seen a lot of strange things in here, but hopefully it's not too bloody."

Jun laughs and takes it in stride. He's gotten better at responding to awkward "crazy" comments, both from Sho and Yoko.

The room is simple and clean. The dresser and shelves are all pristine, not a speck on them, and the bed covers are arranged at crisp right angles. It even looks like the sheets were folded in with hospital box corners.

"Are you sure Ninomiya-kun even lived here?" Jun laughs. "He must have been really tidy."

"He wasn't," Sho says, grinning. "I guess his family really cleaned up when they got his things."

Jun takes a moment to honor Nino's memory before dropping his bag on the bed. "I'll go get my stuff, then."

"I'll help. And then you can thank me by finally cooking that Japanese food you promised me." Sho looks at him cheekily.

Jun hits him in the head, and they both laugh. Living here won't be so bad.

  
Jun comes home from the grocery store and toes his shoes off. "I'm home," he calls. "I got ingredients for oyakodon!"

He walks into the kitchen to set up the stove and notices envelopes on the table. They're carefully laid out, all in a row, addressed in strong but elegant handwriting. "To my parents," one says. "To Matsumoto-kun," says another. And finally, "To Nino."

Jun drops the groceries on the table and looks around, listens. Nothing. He narrows his eyes. Peeking back toward the genkan, he sees Sho's shoes there. He's home, somewhere.

Jun looks across the living room, trying to find signs of life, and he sees Sho's bedroom door ajar. And then it hits him. "Oh god." He breaks into a run.

  
 **3\. (Sakurai Sho)**

Sho is reminded of a moment from when he's younger, playing in his grandfather's giant backyard. It surrounds him, and he's overwhelmed with the colors like fire and the thick scent of wet autumn. He stands under a maple tree and looks down, watching as soggy leaves fight for his feet's attention. He hears the cry of sneakers scraping against wood and turns just in time to see his cousin disappear at an incredible speed, almost as if he's been sucked up like juice through a straw.

Sho smirks and squints up into the tree. "What are you doing?"

The branches tremble with significance, and some leaves float down toward the ground. "You can see so much more from up here!"

Sho hums in quiet acknowledgement and looks across the yard, back toward the house, with its dusty shoji screens and its wooden beams warped with old age, a little like their grandfather. He can see the spot on the porch where they'd been sitting and eating their lunch just moments ago, and when he closes his eyes, he can trace the outlines of a memory, a time long passed when his father spent lazy afternoons doing the same thing.

He opens his eyes and cranes his neck back up, watching his companion's tattered shoelaces slither across the tree trunk. He doesn't think he's missing anything, but he supposes it's worth asking: "What can you see from up there?"

  
 _"Everything,"_ as it turns out. He watches as Jun dashes across the living room in long strides.

"Sakurai-kun!" he's yelling, again and again, panic humming through his voice like an overbearing harmony. Sho can see the veins in his neck tense with every step.

He turns to look at Nino next to him, and he can see _that_ , too -- that this Nino is different, a Nino he's only just met. He's not the Nino in his mind, the product of a long friendship that never actually occurred, but the Nino who's been watching, seeing from above, the entire time.

"Sakurai-senpai," Nino says, dipping his head cordially. "It's been a while."

Sho looks down from above, down at Jun, who's crumpled in on himself at the door of Sho's bedroom. Sho's lifeless body hangs from the ceiling fan.

"Ninomiya-kun," he says, turning back to his old partner. Nino smiles, and Sho smiles back at him. "It's nice to see you again."

  
 **Epilogue**

**0\. Ninomiya Kazunari**

It was his first day of work at the new branch, and he was already running late. But it wasn't his fault, see. There was an old man who dropped his groceries in the street... no, it was a salaryman who got trampled on his way to the train... or maybe a freak refrigerator accident that happened to some men moving boxes... oh! Maybe it was a little girl who was lost and crying. Yeah, that. That's what it was.

"It's fine, it's fine, as long as the little girl is okay." Chief Maruyama smiled knowingly and patted Nino on the back. "Now get to work. Your partner's already at the corner box. Go greet him."

"O-Oh. Yes, sir!" Nino turned and grabbed his jacket from his desk, looking back one more time to see Chief Maruyama waving enthusiastically. He had the air of a grade school teacher, not of a police chief. "I'll... be going, then."

Chief Maruyama nodded. "We'll see you back here for lunch, and you can give us a proper self-introduction then."

Ninomiya Kazunari, 25 years old, from Tokyo. Bloodtype A. Stayed up way past his bedtime last night beating back swarms of the undead because they're persistent little bastards. Subsequently overslept this morning. Got to work late to meet with his boss Big Bird. Now headed toward the corner police box, where he'll be making small talk with his partner and planning tonight's zombie counterattack for the next several hours.

He tapped on the window and poked his head into the box. "Hello."

The man inside looked up and smiled at him. "Ah, if it isn't Ninomiya Kazunari, 25 years old, from Tokyo. Bloodty--"

"I see that you've been reading my profile." The other man grinned sheepishly. "I unfortunately haven't had a chance yet to stalk you..."

The other man chuckled, standing up to walk around the desk and extend a hand. "Sakurai Sho."

Nino shook his hand. "Ninomiya Kazunari. Nice to meet you, Sakurai-senpai. Now, we can get into your life story in a minute, but first things first -- you have _got_ to explain Chief Maruyama to me."

Sho laughed. "Chief Maruyama? He's a nice guy. He's really earnest, does everything seriously." Sho stepped back and sat at the edge of the desk, hands in his pockets. He looked casual and confident -- the makings of a satisfactory partner, at least. "I've never seen him really yell at anyone, but somehow you just want to get things done for him."

Nino smirked. "That doesn't make any sense."

Sho smiled wryly. "It's not supposed to. But I guess that's just how things work around he--"

A deafening crash shattered Nino's senses. He spun around, alarmed. A shot, point-blank range.

"Ninomiya-kun!"

The pain was unreal. Nino sputtered, wincing as he felt the blood drip from his stomach and onto his hands. The garbled sounds of yelling streaked through his ears, growing more and more unintelligible as his mind slowed. _Fuck, I'm passing out..._

He fell backwards into arms he didn't expect to be there. Sho's head cracked against the corner of the desk, a sharp thud that barely registered in Nino's mind, like stop-motion. Sho's grip on his shoulders slackened.

Nino tipped back, leaning against Sho's body, unable to move. _This is... this can't be happening._

Dazed and gasping for breath, he waited, waited for the red to come, for the blood to run into his vision like it did when he died in video games. But instead, his world -- the concrete floor, the flashing lights, Chief Maruyama and the others running toward the police box -- was fading to black. His dimming assailant raised the gun one more time, the barrel dull and cold as death between Nino's eyes. Nino could see the muscles in the other man's hand flex.

And then,


End file.
